Cast: Richard Carlson, Julia Adams, Richard Denning, Antonio Moreno
This week for SNH, me and some of the guys met in chat for CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON.
PLOT: Icthyologist Dr. David Reed (Richard Carlson) and his girlfriend, Kay Lawrence (Julia Adams) head to the Amazon to meet up with Dr. Reed's friend, Colonel Saunders look-a-like Dr. Carl Maia (Antonio Moreno), who has uncovered a fossilized hand from the Devonian period. Dr. Reed persuades Dr. Mark Williams (Richard Denning) to fund an expedition to the Amazon to search for the rest of the skeleton. The expedition consists of Drs. Reed, Maia and Williams, as well as Kay and Dr. Edwin Thompson (Whit Bissell). They happen upon a camp that has been attacked by what Lucas (Nestor Paiva), the captain, calls jaguars, but the men suspect foul play.
Upon hearing of the Black Lagoon from Lucas, Dr. Reed decides to go and investigate. Kay takes a swim, oblivious to the creature following her. When she gets back on the boat, it begins to shake as the creature tries to get the girl. The scientists catch a claw that it left behind and examine it. Dr. Reed and Dr. Williams go to investigate and they confirm that yes, there is some sort of humanoid monster down there. Meanwhile, the creature comes on board the ship and attack one of Lucas' crew members, who reminds me an awful lot of Andy from Twin Peaks, who claims it was a demon.
The gang spots the creature finally as it dives underwater. Reed and Williams go to investigate. They finally end up catching the creature when it tries to attack Kay. The creature proceeds to attack everyone on board until Dr. Thompson sets it on fire. Dr. Williams wants to keep exploring, but Reed says that the team can go on another expedition later. Williams is dead set though, a much different tune being sung from his demeanor earlier in the film.
The gang runs into a tree blocking the lagoon, and Reed goes to investigate again. The creature kidnaps Kay, and that's when Reed has had enough. He dives to the bottom of the lagoon and shoots the pest. The film ends with Reed stoning the creature and cowering in fear (how brave) and the creature floats to the bottom of the lagoon. Is it dead? You make the call.
REVIEW: What I really loved about this film besides Richard Carlson (and he's no Gene Kelly) was the music. Great haunting music and great close-ups of the creature, which was very innovative for its time, though I found it laughable that the creature's movements bore great human resemblance.
One thing I found contradicting was the introduction with a reading from the Book of Genesis, and then goes on to explain some scientific mumbo-jumbo. And speaking of scientific mumbo-jumbo, don't you find it hilarious when actors have to talk about things they must have no clue about. Richard Carlson does it in this movie. A similar example is Kyle Maclachlan pretending to know everything about crime investigating techniques in TWIN PEAKS.
I give this movie 4 out of 5 stars. Yet another cheesy but good 50s sci-fi thriller.
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